National Defence Forces

National Defense Forces
قوات الدفاع الوطني‎
Symbol of the NDF
Active	1 November 2012 – 8 December 2024
Country	Ba'athist Syria
Type	Paramilitary Auxiliary force Militia
Role	Reserve army Counter-insurgency Light infantry
Size	50,000 (2023)
Part of	Syrian Arab Armed Forces
Garrison/HQ	3002 Damascus, Syria (main HQ) With elements in: Aleppo Governorate Hama Governorate Latakia Governorate Tartus Governorate Homs Governorate al-Hasakah Governorate Damascus Governorate As-Suwayda Governorate Deir ez-Zor Governorate
Equipment	See List of NDF equipment
Engagements	Syrian Civil War: Damascus campaign Siege of Darayya and Muadamiyat Damascus offensive Battle of Yarmouk Camp (2015) Qaboun offensive (2017) 2017 Jobar offensive Battle of Harasta (2017–2018) Southern Damascus offensive (March 2018) Southern Damascus offensive (April–May 2018) Rif Dimashq Governorate campaign 4th Rif Dimashq offensive 5th Rif Dimashq offensive 6th Rif Dimashq offensive Rif Dimashq offensive (September 2015) Al-Dumayr offensive (April 2016) Homs campaign Al-Qusayr offensive Siege of Homs Battle of al-Qaryatayn (2016) Palmyra campaign Palmyra offensive (May 2015) Palmyra offensive (July–August 2015) Palmyra offensive (March 2016) Palmyra offensive (December 2016) Palmyra offensive (2017) Aleppo campaign East Aleppo offensive (2015–16) Northern Aleppo offensive (February 2016) 2016 Southern Aleppo campaign Aleppo offensive (June–July 2016) Aleppo offensive (July–August 2016) Aleppo offensive (August–September 2016) Aleppo offensive (September–October 2016) Aleppo offensive (October–November 2016) Latakia campaign 2013 Latakia offensive 2014 Latakia offensive 2015–16 Latakia offensive 2016 Latakia offensive Qalamoun campaign 1st Qalamoun offensive 2nd Qalamoun offensive Daraa campaign Daraa offensive (February–May 2014) Battle of Al-Shaykh Maskin (2015–2016) Hama campaign 2013 Hama offensive 2014 Hama offensive 2016 Hama offensive Hama offensive (March–April 2017) Quneitra campaign Quneitra Governorate clashes (2012–14) Quneitra offensive (June 2015) Quneitra offensive (September 2016) 2014 Quneitra offensive Quneitra offensive (October 2015) Raqqa campaign Raqqa campaign (2012–2013) Ithriyah-Raqqa offensive (February–March 2016) Ithriyah-Raqqa offensive (June 2016) Deir ez-Zor campaign Deir ez-Zor clashes Deir ez-Zor offensive (January 2016) Deir ez-Zor offensive (January 2017) 2014 Eastern Syria offensive Hasakah campaign Al-Hasakah Governorate campaign (2012–2014) Battle of Qamishli (April 2016) Battle of al-Hasakah (2016) Northwestern Syria campaign Northwestern Syria campaign (October 2017–February 2018) Operation Olive Branch Afrin offensive (January–March 2018) Northwestern Syria offensive (April–August 2019) Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020) Northwestern Syria clashes (December 2022–November 2024) 2024 Syrian opposition offensives Fall of Damascus   2023 attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria
Commanders
President of Syria	Marshal Bashar al-Assad
Minister of Defense	Gen. Ali Mahmoud Abbas
Chief of the General Staff	Gen. Abdul Karim Mahmoud Ibrahim
Current Commander	Brig. Gen. Hawash Mohammed
Insignia
NDF flag

National Defense Forces
Quwāt ad-Difāʿ al-Watanī
Dates of operation	1 November 2012 – 8 December 2024
Group(s)	Golan Regiment (disbanded in 2019) Fist Battalion Second Battalion Third Battalion Quneitra Hawks Brigade (disbanded in 2018) al-Shaitat tribe militias
Headquarters	Damascus
Active regions	Syria
Allies	State allies Iran Russia Non-state allies Hezbollah Syrian Democratic Forces (sometimes) Kata'ib Hezbollah Islamic Resistance in Iraq (2020–present) Kata'ib al-Imam Ali
Opponents	State opponents Turkey Non-state opponents Free Syrian Army Jaysh al-Islam Ahrar al-Sham Other Rebel Groups al-Nusra Front / Tahrir al-Sham Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Syrian Democratic Forces (sometimes)
Battles and wars	the Syrian Civil War

The National Defense Forces (NDF; Arabic: قوات الدفاع الوطني Quwāt ad-Difāʿ al-Watanī) was a Syrian paramilitary volunteer militia, that was formed on 1 November 2012 and organized by Ba'athist Syria during the Syrian Civil War as a part-time volunteer reserve component of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces.

The NDF was made of units across various Syrian provinces, each of them consisting of local volunteers willing to fight against rebels for various reasons.

Formation

By the beginning of 2013, the Syrian government took steps to formalize and professionalize hundreds of Popular Committee militias under a new group dubbed the National Defense Forces.

The goal was to form an effective, locally based, highly motivated force out of pro-government militias. The NDF, in contrast with the Shabiha forces, received salaries and military equipment from the government. Since the formation of the NDF, Shabiha members have been incorporated into its structure. The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces has defined Shabiha as the Syrian National Defense Forces.

Young and unemployed men join the NDF, which some view as more attractive than the Syrian Arab Army, considered by many of them to be infiltrated by rebels, overstretched and underfunded. A number of recruits say they joined the group because members of their families had been killed by rebel groups. In some Alawite villages almost every military-age male has joined the National Defense Force.

Others, like the Druze people of Al-Suwayda Governorate, join to protect their land from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In late June 2015, the Syrian government began arming citizens of this governorate against ISIL, who were harassing the local population with abductions, executions, and plundering. The locals became a large and powerful NDF contingent in the governorate, including the prominent Golan Regiment.

The creation of the NDF was personally overseen by Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani. Syrian security officials stated that they received assistance from Iran and Hezbollah, who both "played a key role in the formalization of the NDF along the model of the Iranian 'Basij' militia". The NDF recruits received training in urban guerilla warfare from Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah instructors at facilities inside Syria, Lebanon, and Iran, with this partnership remaining in place as of April 2015. Iran has contributed to gathering together existing neighborhood militias into a functioning hierarchy and provided them with better equipment and training. The United States government has also stated that Iran is helping build the group on the model of its own Basij militia, and that some members are being sent for training in Iran.

Role

The force acts in an infantry role, directly fighting against rebels on the ground and running counter-insurgency operations in coordination with the Syrian Army, which provides them with logistical and artillery support.

The force was reported to be 60,000-strong as of June 2013 and grew to 100,000 by August. The NDF is composed mainly of members of the Alawite and Shia sects of Islam and are loyal to the Syrian Government and the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

Units mostly operate in their local areas, although members can also choose to take part in army operations. Others have claimed that the NDF does most of the fighting because NDF members, as locals, have a strong knowledge of the region.

Struggling with reliability and issues with defections, officers of the Syrian Army increasingly prefer the part-time volunteer reserves of the NDF, who they regard as more motivated and loyal, over regular army conscripts to conduct infantry operations. An officer in Homs, who asked not to be identified, said the army was increasingly playing a logistical and directive role, while NDF fighters act as combatants on the ground.

On 20 February 2018, NDF battalions volunteered to support the Afrin canton against the Turkish-led operation against Afrin. More recently the NDF has been criticized for escalation and aggressiveness with the YPG and SDF in the cities of Qamishli and across the ANES Al-Hasakah, but mediation later ended the skirmishes.

An NDF militia from Mhardeh, led by Sami Al-Wakil, has been accused of war crimes, for instance massacres in Halfaya in December 2012 and Kfar Hod in March 2013, and in Al-Lataminah where it has been reported to be responsible for 200 civilian deaths in artillery fire from a hill it occupied, and of recruiting child soldiers.

Organization and training

According to a report, as of February 2015 the National Defense Forces are organized under provincial commanders, and loosely overseen by a national coordinator who is reported to be Brigadier-General Ghassan Nassour, although later sources report the name of Hawash Mohammed. Local branches are deemed to act with autonomy and to be not cohesive on the provincial level, although there is little uniformity.

Provincial branches seem to be commanded by a senior officer each.

The period of training can vary from 2 weeks to a month depending on whether an individual is being trained for basic combat, sniping, or intelligence.

According to a 2022 analysis by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said "they are not experienced..., poorly equipped and have never excelled on the battlefield."

Women's wing National Defense

Women's wing of NDF in 2013.

Since January 2013, the NDF had a 500-strong women's wing called "Lionesses of National Defense", which operates checkpoints in the Homs area. The women are trained to use Kalashnikovs, heavy machine guns and grenades, and taught to storm and control checkpoints. The largest female group belong to Homs NDF. In January 2024, Lionesses of the NDF have officially been disbanded. Female recruits will fight with regular units.

Funding

French far-right non-governmental organization SOS Chrétiens d'Orient (SOSCO) has conducted fundraising for the NDF according to an investigation by the Newlines Magazine.

See also

• Iran–Syria relations
• List of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War

External links

• Documentary: National Defense Press TV documentary on Vimeo
• Documentary: Secret Treaties Press TV documentary on Vimeo